I met a woman in her 90's who told us her mother used to smoke henbane for asthma.

When I was a kid my uncle gave me one of those cigarettes when I was having an attack.

Basically just dried and ground leaves of Jimson weed rolled into a cigarette.

In China in the early 90s there were popular brands of cigarettes that were advertised to relieve cold and flu symptoms.

Yes indeed. All herbals that were cheap & that worked. It isn't as if asthma is curable; it is matter of symptomatic relief, so how that is achieved should be up to the individual ADULT; kids, well, that is a different jug of sarsaparilla.

IIRC, Tedral was basically Bronkaid (OTC, but limits on amount sold at a time) with the pheno added.

I need to start poking around the local “organic” and ‘herbal” shops.

Heaven & Congress forbid that we free men treat ourselves effectively, without the help of docs to write the script, the pharmacist to dispense it, the pharms to package it, and, most important of all, the insurance companies to spread the wealth.

I’ve taken Advair for two years and NEVER use my resuce inhaler anyore. In fact, do not even know where it is. It like I do not have asthma anymore. Had it since I was two years old. Used the rescue inhaler evey day for 20 years.

Why? Henbane and Jimson weed grow wild all over North America. Henbane grows in my back yard, Jimson Weed, Datura Stramonium, grows across the street in a field by the edge of the woods, and even the leaves from tomatoes contain the stramonium/Belladonna alkaloids..which is why you are not supposed to eat them. Bittersweet nighshade grows everywhere..it is that little climbing vine peope call a "weed" that has little purple and yellow blossoms that look exactly like minature eggplant blossoms. Same thing for potato leaves.